Celebrating the vitality of her community and the natural world is a theme weaving its way throughout local artist Toby Jaxon's work - a subject matter she claims coincides beautifully with her passion for colour. In her paintings she strives to use the true colours of nature, introducing bright hues and thus designing her own unique impressions of nature.
"Living in Squamish you can't help but be inspired by nature," she said. "It's omnipresent so there's scenery from any locale. Nature is the biggest part of what inspires me to paint."
Jaxon, who says she's been an artist for as long as she can remember and has been focused professionally on her art in the past five years, is now being recognized for her talent on a provincial level. Her work is featured in a prestigious publication entitled Artists of British Columbia, Volume III, released in December 2011.
Her journey began when a fellow artist from the North Shore Artists Guild suggested she contact the editor and submit her work to the jury.
"As far as I know, I'm the only Sea to Sky artist that's in this book," Jaxon said. "I consider it a bit of an honour. The book is filled with a variety of different art and there's a broad spectrum of artists represented - multi-media, realism, abstract, watercolours, oils, acrylics."
Asked how she decided what painting to submit for the book, she said she wanted something that was representative of her work. She chose one of her forest scene paintings, called Nature's Geometry in Blue.
Her submission was reviewed by the book's editor, Jane Richardson, and then accepted for publication.
Richardson explained her thoughts on the selection of artists for the publication.
"The artists that are in the book are artists that have a passion for what they do and whose work I like, so that includes a huge range of both skill and experience. Some are new to the game, some are very experienced. It includes not just painters, but there are photographers, sculpture and digital work. This is interesting because most publications only have one type of art."
Formerly the proprietor of Leighdon Studio Gallery in Vancouver, Richardson said back in the days when the gallery was operating, she would exhibit work exclusively from 小蓝视频 artists.
"I would put my heart and soul into promoting them," she said. "What I found is that most artists don't know how to promote themselves, or they just don't have the energy or the enthusiasm... so I found that I was good at it."
That led Richardson to publish the book, Artists of British Columbia, where she invited artists from all over the province to submit their work. The first volume was wildly popular, leading her to publish the second and now third volume.
Richardson said she admires Jaxon's work for its originality.
"I love her work and I like the fact that it is different from the other artists," she said. "It stands out as being very original and I love her colours... they are what I am attracted to."
Colour is what Jaxon is all about.
Describing herself as a "colour person," Jaxon said she loves complementary colours and how they create visual vibrations on the canvas. In fact, nearly every painting she creates features light and also dark colours as contrast.
"I try not to use black because I find it's too harsh but I like mixing and creating dark, deep shadows that could have a vermillion tint to it," she said.
"I love the play of adjacencies - I love using the juxtaposition of colour to give this type of vibrating effect. It causes your eyes to create negative space... the play of the complementary colours, the way they trick your eye."
As her art work is inspired by the mysteries of nature, Jaxon chooses lime green as her typical under-painting colour.
"It lurks in the background, popping through sporadically, enough to persuade unification through the entire piece."
Jaxon's work is featured alongside 38 other artists from 小蓝视频 and Richardson said she hopes people get thinking about art after reading it.
"I am trying to get people thinking about what art is, because art is different to everybody. It's a bit controversial and I like that," Richardson said.
Artists of British Columbia, Volume III is available at the Portico Gallery in Squamish.
